donating blood

[nothuman]

Probably a noob question but does donating blood effect your physique or vascularity/fullness in any way?

 

[Stewie]

Well she said that was good. I mean I was 17.1 back in November with a HCT of 55. I would think I did the right thing here no?

The question is what was your TIBC (Total Iron Binding Capacity) Serum Iron concentration, Transferrin saturation and serum ferritin. If Ferritin is high, Acute inflammation may be suspect, before determining Iron toxicity or Iron overload, in the presence of normal TIBC/ Serum Iron. Normal hemoglobin results vary between labs, but in general for males 13.8-17.2

Did you do the right thing? That's the unknown if your not aware of your Iron status prior to your phlebotomy. I would feel confident in saying, that since your hemoglobin was 14.? Your circulating unbound Iron was board line normal, and that's not to mention what your hydration status was, so if you was mildly dehydrated this will raise your hemoglobin, saying that 14.? Well hydrated it may actually be 13.? +/- . In which means even lower Circulating Iron.

There's no answer to your question, before you dump again I would encourage you to pull an iron panel.

 

[Deleted member 106824]

That may of not been such a wise idea to do a double red blood cell count with a Hemoglobin of 14.? Unless your Ferritin and serum Iron was above range.( Iron overload or Hemochromatosis). Or you've had a MI and your cardiologist wants to keep your Iron levels low.
You just dumped approximately 400-450 mg of Iron, in which will take you several months to build back up.

Iron plays a major role with cardiovascular health as well hormonal function.

This is what I was getting at with my earlier posts. My Hb, Hct and RBC are all on the low end or slightly below normal and I have low iron levels. Therefore wouldn't it be unwise for me to donate blood?

 

[Stewie]

This is what I was getting at with my earlier posts. My Hb, Hct and RBC are all on the low end or slightly below normal and I have low iron levels. Therefore wouldn't it be unwise for me to donate blood?

No, it wouldn't be a wise thing to do if all of your fractionals of your Iron panels are low, ie; Transferrin saturation, Ferritin ect.

 

[DK0223]

The question is what was your TIBC (Total Iron Binding Capacity) Serum Iron concentration, Transferrin saturation and serum ferritin. If Ferritin is high, Acute inflammation may be suspect, before determining Iron toxicity or Iron overload, in the presence of normal TIBC/ Serum Iron. Normal hemoglobin results vary between labs, but in general for males 13.8-17.2

Did you do the right thing? That's the unknown if your not aware of your Iron status prior to your phlebotomy. I would feel confident in saying, that since your hemoglobin was 14.? Your circulating unbound Iron was board line normal, and that's not to mention what your hydration status was, so if you was mildly dehydrated this will raise your hemoglobin, saying that 14.? Well hydrated it may actually be 13.? +/- . In which means even lower Circulating Iron.

There's no answer to your question, before you dump again I would encourage you to pull an iron panel.

But with HCT being 55 don't you feel it was mandatory basically to donate to bring it down?

 

[Stewie]

But with HCT being 55 don't you feel it was mandatory basically to donate to bring it down?

Your Hemoglobin was 14 yesterday, right? General rule of thumb is Hbg X 3 ,in your case would be 14x3= 42 Hct.

 

[DK0223]

Your Hemoglobin was 14 yesterday, right? General rule of thumb is Hbg X 3 ,in your case would be 14x3= 42 Hct.

Well the day before actually. What I don't get is how did my HCT go from 55 in nov to say 43 two days ago? Granted I was on 750mg test when I was at 55 but still....do you think it dropped that much before donating?

 

[nothuman]

Probably a noob question but does donating blood effect your physique or vascularity/fullness in any way?

bump

 

[pieguy]

Does anybody know if the blood bank will still test your blood for things like hep-b antibody if you call them and say you got a cold the next day?

 

[Stewie]

Well the day before actually. What I don't get is how did my HCT go from 55 in nov to say 43 two days ago? Granted I was on 750mg test when I was at 55 but still....do you think it dropped that much before donating?

Red blood cells half life is approximately 120 days, you dumped at a Hct of 55 which should drop your Hct by 3, too 52+/-.

Hydration plays a big role with HH as does other factors. I personally have seen my hemoglobin upon awakening at 19.3 by the end of the day after being well hydrated was 16.4
There is a varance of 1-1.5 +/- < of a vein puncture to a finger prick. So if your finger prick showed 14.? An actual blood draw will be less.

To many variables to give you a correct answer. Just go with what you found yesterday. Again, consider pulling an Iron panel before dumping again.

 

[DK0223]

Red blood cells half life is approximately 120 days, you dumped at a Hct of 55 which should drop your Hct by 3, too 52+/-.

Hydration plays a big role with HH as does other factors. I personally have seen my hemoglobin upon awakening at 19.3 by the end of the day after being well hydrated was 16.4
There is a varance of 1-1.5 +/- < of a vein puncture to a finger prick. So if your finger prick showed 14.? An actual blood draw will be less.

To many variables to give you a correct answer. Just go with what you found yesterday. Again, consider pulling an Iron panel before dumping again.

Well I was well hydrated before donating two days ago. Back in November I was fasting but was still well hydrated before my blood work

And you think my HCT only dropped 3 with a double RBC donation?

 

[Stewie]

bump

With a single phlebotomy, no....At least in my experience.

When I was going in once a month over the coarse of time my fullness seemed to deflate, although my vasularity stayed the same, (I'm very vascular as it is) I'm assuming this would be from the high HH. Which only makes sense.

 

[Stewie]

Well I was well hydrated before donating two days ago. Back in November I was fasting but was still well hydrated before my blood work

And you think my HCT only dropped 3 with a double RBC donation?

Your really confusing me, did you do a double back in November? I know you said the other day you did. That will lead you back to my original post, may not of been a wise idea.

Other wise, no your HH would more than likely go less of 3 points, as of the other day.

 

[DK0223]

Your really confusing me, did you do a double back in November? I know you said the other day you did. That will lead you back to my original post, may not of been a wise idea.

Other wise, no your HH would more than likely go less of 3 points, as of the other day.

No not in November. I got blood work done in November and my hemoglobin was at 17.1 and my HCT was at 55....this was while fasting but i was well hydrated with water.Two days ago I donated a double RBC and prior to that when they tested my hemoglobin it was at 14. Something.... This was after eating and drinking several glasses of water before my donation. Sorry for the confusion. Lol

 

[Deleted member 106824]

No, it wouldn't be a wise thing to do if all of your fractionals of your Iron panels are low, ie; Transferrin saturation, Ferritin ect.

OK I'll avoid it then. Out of curiosity what would be recommended for someone with low iron panels but high Hb/Hct? Or do the two tend to change hand in hand?

 

[DK0223]

No not in November. I got blood work done in November and my hemoglobin was at 17.1 and my HCT was at 55....this was while fasting but i was well hydrated with water.Two days ago I donated a double RBC and prior to that when they tested my hemoglobin it was at 14. Something.... This was after eating and drinking several glasses of water before my donation. Sorry for the confusion. Lol

Bump where you at Stewie

 

[Stewie]

Bump where you at Stewie

If you was well hydrated, and your Hbg was 14.? And you did a double red phlebotomy, we can only assume that your hemoglobin in a few days time under the same hydrated state with no artificial means that would show a transient Hbg increase ie; Iron supplementation would be 10-12 +/- ? Which is too low, I would not dump at 14 on a finger prick with a single RBC, in actuality you were probably around 15> with a vein puncture.

If you have another blood bank in your area, you could stop in and play it off as your going to donate, then back out if it came within an acceptable range. Which I wouldn't believe that's possible, I would guess your anemic.

Personally I prefer,as does my prescribing physician, to dump at 16.5 on a finger prick.

Does that answer your question?

 

[Stewie]

OK I'll avoid it then. Out of curiosity what would be recommended for someone with low iron panels but high Hb/Hct? Or do the two tend to change hand in hand?

I would probably focus on eating organ meats such as liver,as well as fresh oysters.
Do you have GI issues, Celiac disease?

 

[Deleted member 106824]

I would probably focus on eating organ meats such as liver,as well as fresh oysters.
Do you have GI issues, Celiac disease?

Well for the record that was a hypothetical, as I have low iron panel values AND low Hb/Hct/RBC

I have ulcerative colitis. I imagine that is somewhat related. I am glad my Hb/Hct/RBC is low so I don't have to worry about that on cycle, but I wonder if the iron thing is an issue. My endo, who specializes in thyroid disorders, did not seem concerned with it surprisingly, but I would think it would be helpful to have improved.

This was on 3/3/12:
Iron, Total: 54 (45-175mcg/dL)
Iron Binding Capacity: 325 (250-425 mcg/dL)
% Saturation: 17 (20-50%)
Ferritin: 40 (20-345 ng/mL)


This was on 4/10/12 after supplementing iron, which apparently had no or the opposite effect:
Iron, Total: 33 (45-175 mcg/dL)
Iron Binding Capacity: 301 (250-425 mcg/dL)
% Saturation: 11 (20-50%)

I'm exactly sure what I would notice from getting my levels more optimal, or even how to do that. Any clarification would be appreciated.

 

[DK0223]

If you was well hydrated, and your Hbg was 14.? And you did a double red phlebotomy, we can only assume that your hemoglobin in a few days time under the same hydrated state with no artificial means that would show a transient Hbg increase ie; Iron supplementation would be 10-12 +/- ? Which is too low, I would not dump at 14 on a finger prick with a single RBC, in actuality you were probably around 15> with a vein puncture.

If you have another blood bank in your area, you could stop in and play it off as your going to donate, then back out if it came within an acceptable range. Which I wouldn't believe that's possible, I would guess your anemic.

Personally I prefer,as does my prescribing physician, to dump at 16.5 on a finger prick.

Does that answer your question?

Well kinda lol. Two questions:
1. If my hematocrit was at 55 wouldn't it of made sense for me to do a double donation?

2. How the hell did my hemoglobin go from 17.1 in nov to 14 something two days ago?